On Tuesday morning, Christy Clark, a Democratic candidate for North Carolina’s House of Representatives, posted on Twitter that she was “disappointed” with two styles of koozies that were being sold in a store. She asked Harris Teeter and Kroger to discontinue selling them.
One of the koozies Clark raised issues over depicts a bald eagle holding a gun that reads “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.” Another shows an individual holding a military-style assault rifle with “Arms Change, Rights Don’t”.
Both Harris Teeter and Kroger immediately responded to Clark’s request with Harris Teeter thanking Clark, mentioning that a recall request had already been initiated and that “these items are being removed from all store locations.” Kroger also thanked Clark for her message and indicated that it would “tell our leadership about your request that we remove these items from our shelves.”
After the grocery stores’ response to the complaint, social media users said they would be taking their business elsewhere.
One man wrote, “Well you lost a customer now. Hope it will be worth it.”
Another individual on Twitter indicated they would be taking their business to a store in a surrounding vicinity.
“Ya know I think I’ll spend my money at the Publix right across the street from now on,” they wrote.
Another person thanked the store for making the establishment’s political beliefs known as it helped to make shopping choices easier.
“Thanks for “coming out” as woke! Now ½ of your customers are going to publix or ingles!” they posted on Twitter.
One other person accused Harris Teeter of being “too expensive” and of hating freedom as they announced their public declaration to avoid the Kroger-owned subsidiary. Another Twitter user claimed that due to Harris Teeter’s “slavish capitulation to one wokester,” they are “not the store for me.”
Others showed their disgust with the choice to take the items off the shelves by feigning outrage about other items that can be easily found on grocery store shelves.
One person wrote, “@kroger, My cousin is lactose intolerant I demand you remove all dairy products so he can shop your stores unoffend [sic] Please also remove all meat for his vegetarian sister. Thank you.”
“Someone does [sic] from cardiovascular disease every 36 seconds. Please remove your items that are not heart-healthy. 300,000 people die from obesity every year, please remove all your donuts, cakes, bakery department and anything else that can cause obesity,” one person posted.
Newsweek reached out to Harris Teeter and Kroger for comment.
